A technique for displaying information on circumstances of surroundings of an automotive in order to assist a driver in parking, or the like, so that a collision of a corner portion of a vehicle with another obstacle can be inhibited, is conventionally known. For example, JP2004-026012A (Patent document 1) discloses an apparatus for monitoring surroundings of a vehicle. In the apparatus for monitoring surroundings of the vehicle, a camera and an ultrasonic sensor, or the like, are made as a unit. In a situation where an obstacle is detected by the ultrasonic sensor, an image, which corresponds to the obstacle and which is obtained by the camera, is displayed in a display of a navigation system installed in the vehicle.
According to the Patent Document 1, in a situation where an obstacle is detected, the apparatus for monitoring surroundings of the vehicle merely displays an image obtained by the camera, which can obtain the image of the obstacle. Accordingly, a driver need to judge where an object that should be focused, such as an obstacle, is present in the displayed image. Therefore, there can be a situation where an obstacle is difficult to be recognized or grasped. Further, there can be a situation where a degree of helpfulness of information becomes thereby low.
A need thus exists for an apparatus for monitoring surroundings of a vehicle, which displays an obstacle, or the like, so that the obstacle can be easily recognized and thereby which can provide helpful information to a driver. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides such an apparatus for monitoring surroundings of a vehicle.